A theoretical and empirical analysis of the decision to locate on a university research park

University research parks constitute a potentially important mechanism for university technology transfer and regional economic development. Unfortunately, there is little theoretical or empirical evidence on the firm-level choice decision to locate on such a facility. We fill this gap by outlining and testing a theoretical model of this selection process. Our empirical results suggest that U.S. firms locating on university research parks are more research active and more diversified than the typical public firm reporting R&D activity. We discuss the managerial implications of these findings.